Mining for ‘clean energy’ metals driving widespread forest loss in Africa, study finds

Mining for ‘clean energy’ metals driving widespread forest loss in Africa, study finds

A study involving the University of Cambridge has found that 187,000 hectares of forest were lost to mining activity in Africa between 2001 and 2020 - an area roughly equivalent to the country of Mauritius.

'Cobalt and copper mining drives particularly high levels of offsite deforestation, particularly in the hyper-biodiverse rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo'

Prof David Edwards

Using satellite imagery and statistical modelling, researchers found that for every hectare (10,000 square metres) of active mine site in Africa, an additional 34 hectares of forest are lost to supporting infrastructure such as roads, housing settlements and agricultural land.

Demand for green energy transition minerals like copper and cobalt - essential for electric vehicles and renewables - is a primary driver of this deforestation, with demand expected to grow 40-fold by 2040.

The researchers warn that current environmental assessments drastically underestimate mining's true footprint, calling for ‘zero-deforestation’ supply chains to protect vital forests from being sacrificed.

This is the first large-scale study of mining-triggered deforestation across Africa, and compared deforestation rates in mined areas to geographically similar non-mined areas.

The study is published today in the journal Nature.

Read the full article on the University of Cambridge website: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/mining-for-clean-energy-metals-driving-widespread-forest-loss-in-africa-study-finds

Reference: Morton, O. et al: ‘Mining triggers extensive additional deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa.’ Nature, June 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10551-2.

Photo: Mining at Muchacha, Democratic Republic of Congo, along the Ituri River, in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. Image by WCS/ICCN

Adapted from a press release by the University of Sheffield.